1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to mechanical human figures with mobile parts that hold a golf club and demonstrate a golf stroke.
2. Description of Prior Art
Several prior patents show mechanical human figures with a torso that rotates at or above the hips on an axis approximately aligned with the lower spine of a corresponding human, or parallel to it. Prior patents also show golf stroke demonstration or training aids with laser illumination of the ball-target line.
The present robot differs from the prior devices in the following respects: None of the prior devices has a pivot axis that generates a swing circle of the club head centered between the shoulders of the robot. None of the prior devices use gravity to generate a putting stroke. This not only simplifies the mechanism, but also smoothes the stroke movement, producing consistently perfect demonstration putts. None of the prior devices provides a planar laser beam that illuminates the intersection of the plane of the club face with the ground to demonstrate ideal club face alignment. Thus, none of the prior devices can properly demonstrate the putting guide of the related patent application.
The objectives of the present invention are provision of a life-sized golf putting demonstration robot that mechanically demonstrates a perfect putting stroke using a putting stroke guide and method as shown in the related patent application noted above, and which strikes a golf ball with perfect accuracy every time.
The objectives of the present invention are achieved by a mechanical human figure standing in a golf putting posture, having a lower stationary assembly of feet, legs, and spine, and having an upper pivoting assembly of shoulders and arms. The arms are fixed relative to the shoulders. A golf club is fixed to the lower ends of the arms in a golf-putting grip. The upper assembly is attached to the spine on a pivot axle extending forward and upward from the top of the spine between the shoulders. The club head pivots in a circular swing arc tangent to the ground. A golf ball and a stroke guide are placed on the ground in front of the robot. Two laser sources on the pivoting assembly illuminate two aspects of a proper stroke on the ground and on the guide. The arms are lifted manually into a backswing and released, whereupon they fall in a pendulum motion by gravity, causing the club head to strike the ball, and demonstrating the guide.